This invention relates generally to phone devices, such as telephones, and more particularly to adding directory entries to such phone devices that have directory storage capabilities.
In the past, most residences had only one or two telephones. These phones were typically unintelligent, in that they were capable only of receiving and sending phone calls, and nothing more. Phones in general are connected to common phone line wiring throughout a given entity, such as a house, an apartment, an office, and so on. The common phone line wiring is in turn connected to an incoming phone line from the local telephone company, on which phone calls are actually made.
More recently, telephone technology has become more advanced, resulting in phones that are more complex. For instance, many phones are capable of displaying caller ID information, where caller ID service has previously been subscribed to from the local telephone company. Caller ID enables caller ID-capable phones to display the phone number, and frequently the name, of the person who is currently calling. The caller ID information is received while the phone is ringing, such that the phone decodes and displays the information. This lets the user know who is calling before answering the phone. Most, but not all, phone calls will have corresponding caller ID information. Many caller ID-capable phones have a corresponding caller log capability, which saves the caller ID information of a number of the most recent phone calls for later review by the user.
Many phones also have directory storage capability. This means that the user of the phone can enter in the names and phone numbers of people that he or she frequently calls into a directory storage. A name and phone number pair is referred to as a directory entry. Different types and brands of phones may refer to the directory storage by other names. When the user wishes to call someone for whom a directory entry has been previously entered, the user simply selects the name on the phone to dial that person""s number. This is convenient, because the user does not have to have the person""s phone number memorized, or have to look up the number in an address or phone book.
However, due to the reduced keypad nature of telephone devices, where most phones do not have a complete set of alphanumeric keys as typewriters and computer keyboards do, entering in the names and phone numbers of the people a user frequently calls can be quite tedious. For instance, the user may have to employ what is known as a multiple-tap approach to enter in letters. In this approach, the user presses a corresponding number on the phone""s keypad one-to-three times to enter a desired letter. For example, the five key corresponds to the letters J, K, and L, such that the user presses this key once to enter the letter J, twice to enter the letter K, and three times to enter the letter L.
To overcome this difficulty, phones that have caller ID, caller log, and directory storage capabilities may allow users to transfer caller ID information from their caller logs into their directory storages. When someone calls, his or her caller ID information is stored in the caller log. The user of the phone can then transfer this information from the caller log into the directory storage, where it is indefinitely stored. The downside to this approach is that until someone calls, his or her caller ID information cannot be transferred into the directory storage. This means that the user is still likely to have to manually enter the names and phone numbers of at least some people, or wait until everyone has called, before the directory storage stores all the names and numbers desired by the user.
Another difficulty is that, with the decreasing cost of phones, many users have two, three, or more phones in their homes or offices. The user thus has to repeat the name and phone number entry process, and/or the caller ID information transfer process, on each of the phones. This is because most phones are discrete units, in that they have no way of receiving information from other phones or from other devices, such as computers, and so on. When the user wishes to have a large number of directory entries stored in each phone, entry and/or transfer becomes even more tedious and time-consuming.
To overcome this difficulty, some multi-phone systems have been created that allow users to transfer the contents of the directory storage of one phone to the directory storages of all the other phones in the system. For example, the GIGASET phone system, available from Siemens AG, of Munich, Germany, has this capability. The individual cordless handsets of the system can wirelessly communicate with one another through the system""s base station. Once the user has entered or transferred all the desired directory entries into the directory storage of one handset, he or she can then send the entries to the directory storages of the other handsets, on an individual basis. The downside to this approach is that it is proprietary, so nearly all other phones are not compatible with the system and cannot receive the sent directory storages.
Therefore, for these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.
The invention relates to adding directory entries to phone devices such as telephones. The phone devices are coupled to common phone line wiring, and have caller ID, caller log, and directory storage capabilities. A system of one embodiment includes a phone simulator and a control device, the latter which may be a phone device itself, a computer, or another type of device. The phone simulator can be part of the control device itself. The phone simulator is capable of simulating phone calls with caller ID information on the common phone line wiring to the phone devices. The control device simulates a number of phone calls through the phone simulator to the phone devices. The phone calls correspond to directory entries, such as those that the user wishes to add to the phone devices. Each phone call has caller ID information reflecting a corresponding directory entry. After the phone calls have been simulated, each phone device has a caller log of the caller ID information of the simulated phone calls for transfer into a directory storage.
A computer-readable medium of another embodiment of the invention has instructions stored thereon to cause a device to perform a method for each of a number of directory entries to be added into the phone device directory storages. The method first converts a directory entry to caller ID information that reflects the directory entry. The method simulates a phone call having the caller ID information to the phone devices. After simulation of the phone calls, each phone device has a caller log of the caller ID information of the simulated phone calls for transfer into a directory storage.
A method of still another embodiment of the invention first asserts at least temporary exclusive control of the common phone wiring to which the phone devices are connected. The method simulates phone calls over the common phone line wiring. The phone calls correspond to directory entries, such as those that the user wishes to add to the phone devices. Each phone call has caller ID information reflecting a corresponding directory entry. After the phone calls have been simulated, each phone device has a caller log of the caller ID information of the simulated phone calls for transfer into a directory storage.
At least some embodiments of the invention provide for advantages not found within the prior art. Where the control device is a computer, the user can easily enter in the names and phone numbers of the directory entries to be added to the phone devices by using a standard computer keyboard. The user does not have to resort to the usually tedious multiple-tap approach to enter in names and phone numbers. Furthermore, the user does not have to wait for everyone to call before the directory storage of each phone device stores all the names and numbers that the user desires. This is because calls from everyone are simulated. At least some embodiments are also compatible with any existing phone that has caller ID, caller log, and directory storage capabilities, since the directory entries are sent to the phones through the common phone line wiring.
Still other advantages, embodiments, and aspect of the invention will become apparent by reading the detailed description that follows, and by referring to the accompanying drawings.